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ACADEMY: Callum Jackson Blog Week 3

27-Feb-2012

Sussex's young wicketkeeper-batsman Callum Jackson from the Academy has been keeping us posted on the last few days of his England U-17 tour to India.

27th February 2012

Following the last game in Pune we travelled to Mumbai and spent the last few days of our trip there and played two more games. Mumbai has a 21 million strong population; it seems like it, and the majority are absolutely mad about cricket. By 6 o’clock in the morning there must have been already over 100 cricketers netting at the cricket ground where we stayed and a huge amount of people walking around the boundary or practicing yoga on the outfield, the place was teeming with life!

The tour has now finished and it was an unforgettable experience. I have learnt a huge amount from the different cricket conditions of the sub-continent and the variety of the local bowlers I faced both in the nets and in the matches. The wicket keeping was also different from what I have previously experienced, with the slow, low wickets that had varying amounts of spin.

In addition to the cricket, as a team we had to deal with the separate pressures of training and playing in the extremely different and difficult environment that is India. One of which was dealing with a change in diet, eating curry for lunch and dinner for the whole tour. I am sure it will be a few weeks before I have a craving for curry again! Having said that India is a place like no other with its unique people, sounds, smells and colours. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last three weeks in India, on and off the field, and look forward to touring there again in the future.